Denise Crosby: Sticking it to the Tollway puts you on road to nowhere

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FOR FILE - Open Road Tolling -River Road Plaza eastbound I-90 near O'Hare Airport. Part of the Illinois Tollway highway system. (Photo by Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

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Updated: March 24, 2012 11:26PM

To toll or not to toll?

That is the question miffed and confused commuters faced Jan. 1 after the Illinois Tollway Authority jacked up the cost — nearly doubling what we’ve become accustomed to paying — to use its roadways.

It’s not like we aren’t used to getting hit over the head with rising prices during this economic downturn. Have you shopped for cereal lately?

I have. Which is why I’m eating good old fashioned — and really cheap — oatmeal every morning.

It fortifies me with all the vitamins and minerals I need to stomach the stuff we can’t do anything about.

Like taxes. And government spending. And politicians who don’t seem to give a rat’s behind about either.

But the outlandish toll increase presents a unique option; Do we fork out almost double the money to continue using those roads? Or do we STICK IT TO THE MAN by taking the back roads, preventing those highway robbers from confiscating even more of our hard-earned money?

I don’t know about you, but each time I pass through a toll I can almost feel some bureaucratic fat cat reaching into my pocketbook. And so, I began taking the back roads on my commute home, figuring by only paying half the tolls I normally did I was coming out a little ahead.

Yes, the commute was longer: 15 minutes if I hit mostly green; a whole lot more if I got slammed by red lights. And speaking of ... I certainly did more of that on my poor abused brakes while finding my way back home.

I tried to tell myself I didn’t mind the longer more stressful commute. Nice change of scenery, I’d mumble, while rolling past ubiquitous strip malls and a dozen Walgreens. A chance to sharpen my driving skills, I’d remind myself, after cursing like a New York tax driver while weaving in and out of rush hour traffic. Funny how the increase in travel time was in direct proportion to the number of four-letter words uttered on the ride home.

All of which I could live with — spending more time in the car and the confessional — as long as I felt like I was STICKING IT TO THE MAN — keeping that money instead of handing it over to those government bullies.

Only, it didn’t make much dollars and sense, as I began to suspect money saved in tolls was being spent at the gas station. Since other stories didn’t seem to address that question directly, I decided to go to an expert for a little advice. And it turns out, “the answer really all comes down to timing.”

According to Dr. Khan Mohabbat, professor of economics at Northern Illinois University, it doesn’t do much good to take alternative routes in the winter. Not only do you get more stop-and-go driving — which consumes additional gas — in the colder, snowier months, hazardous conditions can end up costing plenty because you are more likely to be involved in an accident. (As he was when a driver rear-ended him a couple weeks ago.)

The third factor, Mohabbat pointed out, is the price of gas itself. As long as it stays below $3.50, during the warmer months especially, it’s probably a wash in regard to savings. But as we all know by now, fuel prices are going up. According to AAA Chicago spokeswoman Beth Mosher, the average price of unleaded regular gas in the Chicago area jumped 19 cents a gallon from December; making the average gallon of $3.61 a record high for January.

That means, according to Mohabbat, “you’ll spend more in fuel” than you would save from your I-Pass.

Don’t forget wear and tear on the car, he added. Money flies out the pocket every time you use those brakes.

And so, I’m back on I-88 for both my commute to and from work — poorer, wiser, more resigned to the inevitable.

STICKING IT TO THE MAN can really take its toll.